Crystal Palace - 1 (Own Goal 64.)
Port Vale - 1 (Widdrington 73.)

To be fair in this report, Port Vale came to Selhurst Park to get a point, and get it they did. That Palace was by far the superior side, and Vale made very few chances, matters little in the scheme of things. About the best that the Palace faithful can take from this game is that they are one more point closer to survival this season and now stand 8 points clear of the relegation zone.

Palaces' family fun day got underway and with only 60 seconds on the clock Clinton Morrison came very close to scoring, his shot, unfortunately, going straight to keeper Kevin Pilkington. A fiery shot snapped fully 25 yards out by Fan Zhiyi was just tipped over the bar, and the scene was set.

Mikael Forssell shot just wide and then Leon McKenzie's shot was dropped by the keeper, Morrison just failing to get to the spilled ball. A final chance of the half came, only for the Palace faithful to see old favourite Sagi Burton clear from the line.

The half was over, and Fraser Digby must have been wondering why he bothered to turn up, he hadn't seen the visiting forwards anywhere near his area for the whole of the first period.

The second half started in much the same vein, with Palace making all the attacking moves, and they were finally rewarded when Wayne Carlisle sent in a curling corner which saw defenders and forwards all going for the ball. The ball finished in the back of the net, and the first call was that Andy Linighan had scored. This was amended shortly after to say that Sagi Burton had actually made contact with the ball, and was finally changed yet again to say that Tony Rougier had headed the ball home. Whichever way, it was a goal to the home side, and the only one ruing the decision would have been Andy, who seems to make a habit of having his scoring shots taken away from him.

The lead did not last too long though. On loan Manchester United striker David Healy made his way down the line, and forced his way into the Palace defensive area. In a scramble with Dean Austin and Linighan Healy took a tumble, and the referee pointed straight to the spot. Tommy Widdrington stepped up, and drilled the shot into the top of the net to bring the scoreline back to level terms. Despite further chances to Leon, Mikael and Clinton were being well held by the defence, and it was not really a surprise when Vale almost stole all the points.

Somehow Healy managed to get free, and a cracking shot was just turned away by Fraser for a corner. There was an ironic cheer at this; it was the first corner that Vale had forced for the entire game. The game finished all square, the result doing both sides little good, though Palace were most likely the more grateful for the one point. It leaves Vale still firmly rooted to the bottom places in the table, and leaves us just a little breathing room at the moment.

We now move on to Loftus Road for a clash with Queens Park Rangers, and despite our 3-0 win earlier in the season, we will be looking for revenge for the 6-0 drubbing they gave us on the last game of the 98/99 season.

Colin Pryce

Crystal Palace: Fraser Digby, Dean Austin, Andy Linighan, Fan Zhiyi, Ashley Cole, Clinton Morrison, Hayden Mullins, Steve Thomson, Wayne Carlisle, Mikael Forssell (Nick Rizzo 82), Leon McKenzie.

Substitutes not used: David Woozley, Craig Foster, Matthew Gregg, Steve Hunt.

Port Vale: Kevin Pilkington, Liam Burns, Sagi Burton, Matthew Carragher, George O'Callaghan (Ville Viljanen 67), Tommy Widdrington, Michael Cummins, Tony Rougier, Allen Tankard, David Healy, Alex Smith.

Substitutes not used: Paul Musselwhite, Tony Butler, Tony Naylor, Stewart Talbot.

Attendance: 18,954

Referee: Mr M Messias (York).